Traditionally reciprocating engines have been of the internal combustion type, wherein a gas-air mixture is exploded in the cylinder housing to drive the piston. In conventional four stroke engines, this results in only one power stroke for every two crank revolutions. Consequently, these engines are very inefficient. In addition, as has become painfully obvious in recent years, such internal combustion engines rely on a natural resource oil or gas fuel which is fast dwindling. However, the worst feature of all is the fact that these engines are severe polluters of the environment. Hence, there is a definite need for an alternative power source.
There have, in the past, been several unsuccessful attempts to produce a reciprocating engine driven by magnetic forces. The prior art, of which applicant is aware, includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,198,934, 2,296,554, 3,939,367 and 3,949,249. While these patents are exemplary of magnetic reciprocating engines or motors, the structures of the patents have failed to come to grips with two basic design aspects. The first, since magnetic force varies inversely as the square of the distance over which it acts, it is highly desirable to use magnetic repulsive forces rather than those of magnetic attraction to drive the piston or pistons. This is because replusive force can be used to fire the piston when it is in very close proximity to the driving magnet, whereas the forces of attraction must initially be exerted over a much greater distance (i.e., the length of the stroke). Thus, by utilizing the repulsive interactions, one obtains a force-crank angle relationship similar to that of the internal combustion engine during its power stroke. This is desirable since the piston will initially experience a very large driving force which drops off rapidly as the piston moves relative to the driving magnet so that at the end of the stroke the piston may be stopped with relative ease (at a point where magnetic repulsion is at a minimum). By using the forces of attraction, one obtains quite the opposite effect. This results in an inefficient power stroke which subjects the connecting parts to great stress at the end of each stroke. Secondly, the energy losses which have traditionally mitigated against electromagnetically actuated reciprocating motors are hystersis and eddy current losses. These problems have to be solved at their source. By utilizing modern grain oriented electrical sheet metals and modern lamination techniques, one can hold such losses to a minimum.
It is a well known fact that electric motors are among the most efficient energy converters available today. Despite their wonderful energy conversion characteristics, however, these motors require prohibitively larger power supplies for most purposes.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an improved electromagnetically actuated, linear reciprocating self-timed motor which has increased power, which uses direct current which eliminates the necessity for reversing polarity during reciprocation of the piston. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved electromagnetically actuated, linear reciprocating self-timed motor which utilizes dual electromagnetic coils constituted by primary and secondary windings instead of simply one coil electromagnets to drive the pistons and thereby recycle the induced current from the secondary winding as a result of piston movement relative to the relatively fixed driving coil assembly.